Carib boxers struggle in Pan Am qualifiers

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

At the end of two of the three qualifying boxing tournaments for the Pan American Games scheduled for Guadalajara, Mexico, from October 14-30, the English-speaking Caribbean still does not have a representative.

In the second qualifier held in Quito, Ecuador, from April 30 to May 7, Jamaica's three boxers, Jovan Young, light heavyweight, Reece Shagourie, middleweight and Oraine Walters, light welterweight, failed to qualify this time around. So too did the boxers from Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Barbados, St Lucia and the Cayman Islands.

Young, who drew Colombian Monroy Jeison, the favourite for the gold medal in the first round, came back with a strong finish after being outclassed in the first and second rounds. He even scored a knockdown in the third, but his opponent had opened up such a wide lead that Young ended up the loser on points 30-13. Jeison suffered an upset in the semi-final and eventually placed third, but he qualified.

Shagourie was looking good in the first round of his contest with Mario Bernal of El Salvador, when there was a clash of heads and he came up with a bad cut over his left eye that forced a stoppage. He lost by way of referee stopping the contest because of injury.

Courageous performance

Twenty-year-old student Oraine Walters, from the Job Walters gym in Anchovy, gave a courageous performance in his bout against Cesar Diaz Caro of Peru, but his opponent was always able to score more points than he did. He lost 15-5.

St Lucia, with six boxers, Barbados and Cayman four each, Trinidad, three, and The Bahamas, two, rounded off the English-speaking Caribbean delegations. Trinidad and Barbados came closest to qualifying with fourth place finishes. Only the first three in each class qualified so they did not make it.

The United States qualified three female and one male boxer, all silver medal winners. Canada, who are once more a force in amateur boxing, qualified two female and one male, all of whom won gold medals.

Brazil came out on top in the tournament with six medals, four gold, one silver and one bronze. Canada placed second and Colombia with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals placed third. Cuba who had qualified 8 boxers in the first tournament, secured the other two places they needed for a perfect 10, but had to settle for a silver and a bronze in Quito. Host country Ecuador who have climbed back to the top rankings in amateur boxing had six medals, one gold, two silver and three bronze. The other gold medal winners were the Dominican Republic two, Argentina and Venezuela.